Griffin Tichenor was on the same bike ride that killed Lennie Antonelli and Jacob Hill last July.
While peddling along N.C. 251, a scenic byway that runs along the French Broad River, all three were hit by a box truck that crossed over the line and struck the bikers head on. Tichenor was the only one to survive.
Six months after the tragedy, he’s working to channel his grief into advocacy. Last week, he spoke in front of a crowd at Liberty Bicycles in South Asheville as part of the inaugural meeting of the Asheville chapter of The White Line, an advocacy group that seeks to end road deaths and create safer streets for everyone.
“It's been a tremendous weight,” Tichenor said in a speech to the 100-something people who attended the event. “But surviving that has meant for me, that it's my responsibility to try and make sure it doesn't happen to anybody else.”
Tichenor, in partnership with The White Line, is pushing for a new piece of federal legislation called the Magnus White Cyclist Safety Act. If passed, the law would require all new motor vehicles to include an automatic braking system that detects cyclists and other vulnerable road users. There's already a law in place that requires car manufacturers to include a variation of this technology. But now, the system is only programmed to brake for other cars.
“They missed the opportunity to also protect other vulnerable road users like bicyclists,” Tichenore said. “The solution we're proposing is very cost effective, at about $23 per car. It's a software update, bolstering systems that are already required.”
Tichenor is working on getting the law passed with Maddie Barondeau, who got engaged to Antonelli only days before his death. At the event, Barondeau asked cyclists to document on sticky notes all of the places where they almost got hit by a car.
“It’s really important that people hear where you had a near miss,” she said. “A near miss is just as statistically significant as a crash. But, unfortunately, it's not reported most of the time.”
It wasn’t long before participants filled a large poster board with multi-colored sticky notes, each citing near misses — in Biltmore Village, on the Blue Ridge Parkway and all over the River Arts District.
“There are a lot of near misses, because a lot of these roads have no shoulders. And traffic has increased. The population has increased and the city has grown,” said Sara Shea, one of the evening’s participants.
Asheville is one of the most dangerous places to bike in the state, according to a report from the Asheville Citizen-Times. It’s a troubling statistic, Shea said, given the city’s reputation as an outdoor mecca.
“Jacob (Hill) came here from Florida because he had a full scholarship for cycling to Mars Hill University. He chose this area because of cycling,” she continued. “I feel like our state let him down by not fulfilling their duty to create safe roads and a safe cycling environment.”
Road safety is not a problem that’s going to be solved overnight. The North Carolina Department of Transportation is evaluating different ways to improve safety for cyclists, according to spokesperson David Uchiyama. On Riverside Drive, the department has already lowered the speed limit and added signs that alert drivers to cyclists.
In August, the French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization released the “Safe Streets for WNC,” a plan that aims to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes by 2035 by 10% and move towards zero fatalities and serious injuries by 2050.
In addition to that, Asheville City Council has approved two recent agreements with the Department of Transportation that will expand bicycle infrastructure in the Asheville area: a $2 million bridge crossing for cyclists and pedestrians near Craven Street and a nearly $3 million project to build a pathway along Deaverview Road in West Asheville.
As for the Magnus White Act, Tichenor is still trying to get Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC11) on board. At the event, dozens of people wrote emails to the congressman in support of the bill.
“He's got to feel the heat because cycling means a lot to this district and this community,” Tichenor said.
